


Far Away, Long Ago

by Morgana_Ehran



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Human, Amnesia, Anastasia!AU, Derek Hale & Isaac Lahey Bromance, Derek and Stiles hate each other first, Hale Fire Happened But Differently, I REGRET NOTHING, Illegal Activities, Multi, Not Really Historical, Off Screen Violence, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Bromance, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Stiles is a dick, Totalitarian Country, Yes Derek Is the Princess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 20:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4276800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana_Ehran/pseuds/Morgana_Ehran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The Prince? Derek as the Prince?” Isaac laughed loudly. “You clearly don’t know this guy. He has no manners! He never says hello! Or please, or thank you! He’s rude to everyone. He eats from a pan. He moves like an ape and growls at everything.”</p>
<p>“Isaac,” Derek hissed.</p>
<p>“The reward is a million pounds,” Stiles said. </p>
<p>“Oh."</p>
<p>(aka Anastasia!au nobody asked for. No one sings and everything is kind of bleaker.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally [rosepetals42](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rosepetals42/pseuds/rosepetals42)'s fault. She posted her Not Quite Normal OTP challenge and when I came across the number 25 (AU of your favourite animated movie), I was immediately plotbunnied. I wrote the first scene of this fic just for fun but she was excited about it and so I started to consider writing it all down. And here I am.
> 
> Big thank you to [Monna](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MonnaMoo) who cheers me and gives me advices when I ask her. She's my personal sunshine.
> 
> All my loving to my beta-reader [dwightyoumonkeyslut](http://dwightyoumonkeyslut.tumblr.com/) who is an immense help to me. She's awesome. Thank you! 
> 
> A/N: This story takes place in the alternative universe where I used different names for countries to not to step on any toes though it's obvious what those countries and political systems are standing for. The same goes for timeline though. I didn't want to get to caught on the history of countries and their relationships as I rather wanted to create an image of a totalitarian country and an immigration. I wanted to create this non-specific timeless, spaceless alternative verse. (That's why I use such stupid names as the Government or the Revolution. Those are also obviously standing for other things but well, you know, stepping on toes.) I hope it works for everyone.

“So how do we know it’s the prince?” Scott asked and threw a small ball in the air. He caught it in a golden goblet he had been drinking his beer from.

“We won’t because the real prince is dead,” Stiles waved his hands wildly and cut himself another piece of cheese. 

“I know that,” Scott rolled his eyes and threw the ball away to fill his goblet again, “I meant how do we decide who is the best imposter? We don’t know what the prince was like!”

“We know some parts and we know what he should look like. That’s enough,” Stiles shrugged.

“You really think it’ll work? I mean, princess Laura will certainly -”

“- be happy we found her brother,” Stiles finished for him. He stuffed some bread in his mouth and picked up the photo of prince Theodoric laying nearby. He was thirteen in the photo but it was the most recent one of him, taken two weeks before the Revolution. It was the best they had. Stiles took a pencil and paper and tried to draw the portrait of what the adult prince might look like today. If he was alive, that is.

“Well, let’s hope she’s that desperate. Poor girl,” Scott sighed, taking a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, poor girl with all her money and luxury over in Gallia,” Stiles snorted, digging too hard in the paper with his pencil.

“C’mon, dude, show some sympathy. She lost her whole family. I’m not surprised that she is trying to find her brother, no matter how high a chance there is that he’s dead,” Scott shoved into Stiles’ elbow. Stiles glared at him because now the picture was ruined. Stiles crumpled the paper and threw it in the fire.

“Do I need to remind you we’re trying to take advantage of her? To fool her?” 

“I know,” Scott murmured, “I’m just saying… if she wants to find her brother so badly, maybe it doesn’t matter that we’ll bring her an imposter. If she doesn’t find out, maybe she’ll be happy and then we’ll have done a good thing.”

“Always so positive,” Stiles rolled his eyes but smiled as he pulled out a new sheet of paper.

~¤~

Derek hated the salty smell that clung to him after he finished his job. His hands were permanently dirty and scratched from hours of hard labour. Derek never looked at his hands if he didn’t have to.

He was exhausted, as usual after long day in the harbour, fighting the cold and wet weather. When he opened a door his body felt ten times heavier than it actually was. He wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep. 

Isaac waited for him in the kitchen, as usual. He was in his waiter’s uniform already. 

“Hey, Derek,” he said softly as he was flipping through a newspaper. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” Derek admitted and sat himself at the table. Isaac gave him a sympathetic smile, folded the newspaper and turned to the stove. He grabbed a pan off of it and put it in the middle of the table. Derek just grabbed some cutlery and started eating the soup straight from the pan, before Isaac could even offer him a bowl. Isaac shrugged and dropped his hand.

“Thanks,” Derek muttered between mouthfuls of soup. Isaac smiled.

“Hard day?” 

“As usual,” Derek shrugged, lifting the pan and sipping the last of the soup. 

“You received a letter from the Ministry,” Isaac said carefully, shifting nervously and toying with his cufflinks. Derek lifted his eyes to him. 

“Did you open it?” he asked, not bothering to scowl at Isaac for not telling him as soon as he came home.

“Nope,” Isaac shook his head, “I wanted to wait for you to do that.” He opened a drawer and handed Derek a letter with red tape. Derek took it and tore it open with no finesse whatsoever. Isaac eyed him intensely, shifting on his feet unconsciously. Derek’s eyes flew over the paper. He didn’t say anything for a minute or so. Then he crumpled the paper and threw it on the table.

“They refused to give me a passport. Again,” Derek growled, his hands falling heavily on the table in front of him. Isaac bit his lower lip.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. 

“I’m used to it,” Derek shrugged. He had a feeling that they would never let him leave the country. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if he was a dissident or an enemy of the state. He was just a normal, working man. It was as if they knew he wouldn’t come back. Derek has applied since he left the orphanage and started working among the fishermen. But he had had no luck. 

“We will think of something,” Isaac gave him a soft smile. 

“It’s easy for you to say. You have a passport,” Derek grunted darkly. Isaac frowned and crossed his arms. 

“Yes, but it’ll expire next year, and I’m still waiting for you,” Isaac pointed out. 

Derek sighed and put his head in his hands. He rubbed his face tiredly.

“I’m sorry, Isaac. I know. I know you do,” he apologized in softer voice. He dragged his fingers down his face, the rough pads of his fingertips scratching his eyelids and cheeks. 

“It’s not your fault,” Isaac said softly. The only reason the Government had granted Isaac a passport was because he had reported his boss for smuggling goods from the South. Derek remembered it well. Isaac had been living in the same orphanage as him, they had been friends even though Isaac had been three years younger. As Derek left at the eighteen to find himself a job – that the state gave him – he hasn’t seen Isaac or heard from him for another three and half year. When he met him again, Isaac was in a poor condition. He was an apprentice to locksmith at the time. He didn’t feed him, he beat him. Derek told Isaac to report the guy. And Isaac did and Derek took him under his wing, let him live with him and Isaac was lucky enough to find himself a job as a waiter in a shitty pub down the harbour. They were both lucky, really. 

“I’m just tired,” Derek admitted, sighing deeply.

“Yeah… sleep will do you good. We will find a solution. Can we talk about it tomorrow? I need to leave,” Isaac said as he looked down at his watch. 

“It’s a good idea,” Derek agreed and stood up. He needed a shower. 

When he returned to the kitchen, Isaac was gone but he left Derek a glass and a half empty bottle of vodka on the table. It was the special one, the one that Boyd stole for him from a warden when Derek was leaving the orphanage. Derek drank from it only when he was refused a passport. It was like a sad, twisted tradition.  
He sat down, tired and numb, and poured himself a shot.

  
~¤~

Stiles glanced at his watch. He was tapping his foot in an unfocused rhythm as he looked around the hallway.This building was such luxurious place. Things could go so well for you if you were in the Party and supported the Government openly. Being a prominent actress helped as well. Stiles never resented Erica for supporting the Government. He knew too well what the system could do to you once you were against it. Melissa, Scott, himself… they had lived a good life during the days of the monarchy so they were bound to suffer after the Revolution. Some people didn’t want the trouble. Some people wanted nice life. Some people were just glad to have a house and a job and as long as they got it they didn’t care about the politics. And others wanted a career and good future for their children. Those had to support the Party. Melissa had done that and now Erica was doing it. It was hard for Stiles to judge.

Stiles could hear the footsteps. He recognized Scott’s quick, heavy walk and sighed in relief. As soon as Scott appeared in sight, panting slightly, Stiles stepped towards him.

“Did a liftboy see you?” 

“No,” Scott shook his head. “Why do you think I took the stairs? I just ran all the way from the theatre, I don’t need to walk the stairs to stretch my legs.”

Stiles smiled fondly. Scott was picking up his sarcasm. Obviously they spent too much time together. 

“Good. I‘ve only had enough money to bribe the doorman,” Stiles nodded, starting for the door at the end of the hall.

“Why couldn’t Erica throw the party at the theatre? It wouldn’t be suspicious if we were hanging around there,” Scott frowned.

“Someone could eavesdrop there,” Stiles shrugged.

“You sure they don’t have Erica’s flat wired?” 

“Yeah, I am, Boyd and I checked two days ago. It’s safe,” Stiles assured his best friend. They stopped in front of the door. Stiles knocked. Only the police used a doorbell. The doorbell was a bad sign.

“Hey!” the door opened ajar at first then more widely. Erica was grinning at them, all golden curls and a magnificent dress. She gestured for them to come in and they obeyed. Scott closed the door carefully.

“Hello, love,” Stiles smirked and kissed her cheek as she hugged him tightly. She did the same with Scott. Boyd appeared behind Erica, placing his palm on her back gently.

“Hey guys,” he nodded to them. Stiles nodded in greeting politely whereas Scott patted Boyd’s shoulder with broad smile. 

“You’re late! For your own party!” she pouted and punched Stiles in his upper arm.

“It’s Scott’s fault,” Stiles shrugged, smiling.

“They held me back at work,” Scott replied. 

“Aw. Nevermind. I have invited every guy I know that has some kind of acting talent and fits the profile. Let’s go introduce you, shall we?” Erica waved at them to follow her.

As she promised, they met about nine guys that seemed capable of acting. More or less. Some even looked similar to the pictures Stiles gathered. But there was always something that wasn’t right. Too pale, brown eyes, too small nose. None of them looked enough like the prince Theodoric to be convincing. Stiles and Scott just looked at each other and shook their heads. Maybe the plan just wasn’t feasible.

The party continued anyway. When Erica’s baby daughter woke up screaming, she went to lull her. Stiles left Scott to mingle and followed her. 

“I’m surprised she didn’t wake sooner,” Erica sighed as she held her baby against her chest, swaying with her. 

“Hey, Nina,” Stiles greeted the baby by nudging his finger in her tiny fist. She squeezed it tightly. “Why didn’t you get a babysitter?”

“Everyone I hired so far was too suspicious. I’m not entirely persuaded they weren’t spies,” Erica snorted. “Boyd will be staying with her from now on as I’m going back to work.”

“Ah,” Stiles didn’t know what else to say. Erica had good life and now Boyd did too. Although her managers weren’t happy she got involved with a black guy who worked as a stagehand, they helped Boyd get better job so it wouldn’t cast a shadow on Erica’s image. The media helped to develop the story of true love that can’t be helped and it didn’t hurt anyone in the end. They were very lucky. 

“You didn’t find your prince, huh?” Erica asked.

“Uh,” Stiles rubbed the back of his neck, “no, we didn’t. No one seems… good enough. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. What are you going to do now?” 

“I don’t know,” Stiles shrugged. “If it comes to worst, we just leave and forget the plan.”

“That’s very risky,” Erica pointed out.

“Leaving or the plan?” Stiles laughed bitterly. As if living wasn’t risky. 

“Both,” Erica replied. 

“We can’t stay. You know that. It’s already risky for us. Next misstep and we’re going to jail. I rather risk that possibility by trying to get away from here,” Stiles said in low and angry voice.

“I get that. And don’t think I wouldn’t leave if I could,” Erica continued moving slowly even though Nina fell asleep again. She put her gently in her crib. “If I could,” she repeated, gazing at her daughter lovingly. Nina was the reason why neither Erica nor Boyd could leave. If you were leaving the country, you had to leave your children behind so you were forced to come back. Not even members of the Government could travel with their whole families.

“I know,” Stiles mumbled. It was breaking his heart but he knew Erica loved Nina and Boyd and they had a good life. The question was for how long. Melissa had been in favour of the Government too. Before they separated her and Scott. 

“Thank you for the party. You’re a great friend,” Stiles said to change the subject.

“Of course. Maybe you could do something for us in return,” Erica turned to him.

“I’m all ears,” Stiles smirked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Boyd has an old friend. They met in the orphanage. He needs a passport. He can pay you. But he needs it soon,” Erica explained.

“Sure. Send him to me. I’ll see what I can do,” Stiles promised and let Erica to lead him out of the room.

  
~¤~

Derek’s alarm went off with the most irritating sound ever. He grunted and hit it to stop it ringing. Then he rolled clumsily out of bed. He rubbed his face on his way to the tiny bathroom he shared with Isaac. He washed his face and brushed his teeth. It helped him wake up properly. He didn’t even consider shaving. He hasn’t been shaving for last two weeks and was starting to sport a beard.

As he entered the kitchen, he was greeted by Isaac, asleep at the table. Derek started. He was perfectly alert now.

“Jesus fuck, Isaac!” he growled. Isaac woke up immediately. He straightened so quickly Derek heard his spine cracking. 

“Shit, you scared me,” Isaac breathed out. As soon as he recovered from the shock he started to stretch his arms and back. 

“Well, you scared me too,” Derek muttered and went to fill a kettle with water. “What you doing here anyway? It’s four in the morning. Don’t tell me you just came home.”

“No, I finished two hours ago,” Isaac shrugged. “But I was waiting for you. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“What happened?” Derek frowned and turned to him as soon as he turned on the gas stove.

“You should sit, it’s really something,” Isaac promised, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. 

“Okay,” Derek encouraged him and took a seat.

“Boyd stopped by the pub last night. He wanted to showme the photo of his little baby girl,” Isaac started to explain. Derek nodded. Boyd did that from time to time. He was always better friends with Isaac since they were the same age. Derek had seen him only twice since he left the orphanage. But Isaac kept him updated.

“He’s really good these days. Anyway, I mentioned your passport troubles to him and he told me he knew a guy who’s really good forger. He could make you a false passport. He did it few times and his passports were never caught. He’s kind of hard to reach and he’s probably expensive but Boyd promised to ask him if he could help us! Isn’t that great?”

Isaac was grinning widely now and his eyes were bright. Derek couldn’t remember when was the last time he saw him like this.The kettle started to wheeze and Derek turned in his chair to turn the gas off. 

“It sounds amazing. But it would be very risky. And we can’t afford to spent too much money,” Derek replied. He couldn’t help being sceptical. Even if Boyd said that guy was good, he didn’t know him. And he wanted to do this legally, if he could.

“Yeah, but this is important. We can’t afford to wait. You might never get a passport from the Government. If we want to leave together and leave soon, this could be our only chance,” Isaac argued. Derek stood up to make a coffee.

“Boyd wouldn’t say he’s that good if he wasn’t. It’s worth the risk,” Isaac continued.

“What if it fails? Would you risk going to jail for me?” Derek snorted as he was rummaging through a cupboard. They were out of sugar. The next black market wasn’t until the next month and a substitute from official stores was too disgusting.

“Yes,” Isaac nodded. His expression was solemn. Derek took a deep breath. He knew Isaac meant it. 

“Did he tell you a price?” 

“Boyd said it depends. I guess he would give us a discount if he learnt about out financial situation. And he doesn’t need to know how much we have saved for tickets to Gallia,” Isaac shrugged.

“That’s true,”Derek nodded slowly. He wasn’t actually sure if they had enough money for life in Gallia since he didn’t know about its economy. It was probably more expensive there. But he expected that. The amount they had was big enough for them to live off for a half a year here, in Saskia. 

“Yeah, that’s true. It’ll be worth it. The most important thing is to get there,” Isaac agreed happily. Derek placed a coffee in front of him. Isaac smiled and curled his palms around the cup.

“What’s the guy’s name? And where do we find him?” Derek found some rye bread in another cupboard and threw it on the table. 

“Stilinski. I don’t remember the first name, it sounded funny. But it’s not a common surname. And… he resides in the old palace.”

“What?” Derek made a face. That place was abandoned, half of it was burned down and everyone avoided it like a plague. 

“I don’t know why. Anyway, Boyd said we will find him in the Royal Palace. The right wing, that’s still standing, obviously,” Isaac explained and cut himself a slice of bread. 

“That’s odd. Whatever. When we can go to see him?” Derek asked.

“Boyd said he’ll see him tomorrow night. He’ll ask him and give me notice if he agreed to do this for us,” Isaac replied as he chewed on the bread. 

“Good,” Derek nodded and cut his own slice. He dipped it in his coffee before eating it. Isaac made a face.


	2. Chapter 2

After few days Boyd visited Isaac at work to assure him his friend would meet Derek and see what he could do for him. It was difficult to set up a meeting with Boyd as their only connection. So late one afternoon when Derek came back from the work and Isaac didn’t have to work, they decided to try their luck. They headed to the Royal Palace, hoping there won’t be any police lurking around.

“This is bad idea,” Derek mumbled as they climbed over the bent bars of an iron fence which looked as if someone had been trying to take it down.

“No one saw us!” Isaac argued, motioning the empty street. Most of the buildings around the Royal Palace were in ruins. Not even homeless people lived there, it was too cold this time of year. Not that there were many homeless people. They were usually thrown to the jail for the social parasitism.

Derek shrugged and let Isaac to lead him into the palace. Since all the doors seemed to be boarded up or chained, they went through the ruins of the left wing that had been burnt down. It was a horrible sight, and it was dangerous. Derek felt safer once they were hidden inside the walls. The building was a charred ghost of itself, with blackened pieces of furniture left behind. Derek didn’t know details of how the Revolution happened but he knew that all members of the Royal family died here. The goose bumps crawled up his skin.

“This place is fucking scary,” Isaac commented as he was twisting his head around. There was a very thick layer of dust and ash on the ground and they could hear a rustling of pigeon wings over their heads. All the windows were boarded up so there was limited light here. The deeper they went, the less charred and fallen apart the building was. But it was still covered in dust. There was no furniture, it was no doubt taken away by the new government or stolen.

After the few minutes of silent, uncomfortable walking they reached something that looked like a foyer. It was enormous. It seemed mostly intact, though emptied as well. The stirred up dust was floating in the sunlight streaming through the gaps between the planks nailed up against the windows. There were frescos on a ceiling and sculptures on top of a big ass staircase. The frescos were abraded and the sculptures were missing limbs. The air was stale and cold. 

“He lives here?” Isaac made a face. “The place is enormous!”

“You take the ground floor, I’ll search through the first,” Derek jerked his thumb towards stairs.

“If I find stray animal and it bites me and I’ll die of plague, it’s your fault,” Isaac muttered but started to walk towards the corridor on the other end of hall. Derek rolled his eyes and walked towards the staircase. Before he reached it he noticed large family portrait. The picture hung about three metres from the ground. It was the only painting in here. Otherwise there were only the rectagles faded in the wallpaper that suggested just how many paintings there had hang. The scratches at the bottom of the frame suggested someone had tried to take it down, but probably gave up. The corner of the canvas was torn. Maybe it didn’t have desired value now. Derek didn’t know the first thing about paintings.

He looked higher to study what was on the canvas. There was a group of five people. Two adults, man in his forties and woman that looked slightly younger. Both of them looked serious, proud and distinguished. He wore a uniform with sword and she wore a dress with an enormous skirt and a sash over her torso. They were both standing. Between them stood a boy of around ten or so. In front of the woman – Queen, Derek realized – sat two girls on small divan. The girl on right was beautiful and smiling, obviously older than the boy, probably in her teens. The girl next to her was hardly more than a baby, her legs hanging out of the divan and her made-up curls making her cheeks look even rounder. Everyone of them had pale eyes and dark hair, the Queen and the Prince had the darkest, almost black.

 _They are all dead,_ Derek thought. _Actually no, one of princesses survived. The older one._ Derek didn’t know her name. He couldn’t remember the name of any member of the Royal family. They didn’t teach them that at school. He just knew he had seen those faces somewhere before.

All dead, all names lost. Derek felt strange shiver crawling down his spine. Maybe his family was dead too. He didn’t know. But he was going to find that out. Once he was in Gallia, presumably.

“Hey!” Derek tore his gaze from the family portrait. At the top of the stairs a man stood with his hands on the hips. “Hey, you! What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for Mr. Stilinski,” Derek spoke up carefully. The man didn’t wear the police uniform so that was good. Still, it could be some sort of agent but Derek hoped it wasn’t case. Maybe he shouldn’t be so straightforward. He didn’t know who it was but hopefully someone associated with Mr. Stilinski. The man looked young, maybe Isaac’s age. Maybe he was Stilinski’s secretary or assistant. He decided to take a risk. 

“Why?” the young man asked carefully, still not moving.

“I…” Derek hesitated this time. “I need to speak to him. I have business for him.“

“What kind of business?”

“Could you just take me to him? Or tell him there’s someone looking for him?” Derek pressed as he was feeling more upset with every second.

“Hey, Stiles! Look who I found wandering in our halls!” another voice echoed in the foyer. Derek whipped his head around and saw another young man coming from the corridor Isaac had used few minutes ago. Isaac was walking in front of him, a petulant look on his face.

“It’s not your house,” Isaac growled.

“Who are you?” the man on the stairs asked.

“I’m Derek Wells. This is my friend, Isaac Lahey. We were told we can find a man named Stilinski here,” Derek started to explain. 

“Who told you so?” approaching man asked now.

“Vernon Boyd,” Isaac replied, turning over his shoulder. The man’s face relaxed visibly.

“Oh! Boyd. He mentioned that he’ll be sending some friend of his to us,” the guy nodded in agreement. 

“Great,” Derek relaxed too. “So, is Mr. Stilinski here – “

“That would be me,” the guy from atop stairs made himself heard and started to descend the stairs quickly. “I’m Stiles Stilinski.”

“Huh,” was all Derek could say in reply. He certainly didn’t expect him to be Stilinski himself. He thought he’d be older. But looks could be deceiving. As long as the guy was able to make him a passport, Derek didn’t care. Isaac came to stand by his side.

“I’m Scott McCall, we work together,” the young man by the foot of stairs finished introduction. Derek nodded in acknowledgement.

“We need a passport. Well, Derek does,” Isaac started to say. “We were told that you could provide one.“

“Yeah, I can. But it will take some time and lot of money,” Stiles said as he approached, a smirk playing on his lips. His voice was full of arrogance. Derek crossed his arms over his chest and pressed his lips together.

“We can pay the price,” Derek replied. He wasn’t really sure they could but they had to try.

“You don’t even know how much it is…“ Stiles stepped down on the floor and looked up at Derek with a mocking grin. Then he froze and his face turned in utter consternation. “Scott!”

“Yeah?” Scott frowned as he turned to Stiles.

“Do you see what I see?” Stiles asked, not tearing his eyes from Derek. Derek was confused.

“No?” Scott frowned even more deeply. Stiles gestured to Derek.

“Doesn’t he look familiar?”

“Why would he look – oh! Oh my god!” Scott exclaimed, making both Derek and Isaac jump in surprise. “He totally looks like…”

“Yeah, he does,” Stiles grinned.

“What’s going on?” Derek demanded. Their staring was irritating him. Isaac was looking confusedly between the three of them. “Can we get to the point?”

“How much is it for the passport?” Isaac took the lead of conversation. He knew Derek wasn’t any good at bargaining And he could see that Derek was loosing his patience. “Boyd told us your price depends on the customer.”

“Yes, it does,” Stiles agreed. “Mr. Wells, please tell us about yourself.”

“Why is it important?” Derek asked carefully. He wasn’t really happy to share anything about himself to complete stranger even if it was the friend of Boyd.

“So I can decide the price,” Stiles sneered. Derek breathed in heavily. He didn’t like this guy at all.

“I’m twenty-three, I’ve been working as fisherman for past five years. I’m not married and have no family since I grew up in an orphanage. I’m apolitical if that concerns you. Is it enough?”

“Perfect,” Stiles nodded to himself. “Why do you want the passport? Where are you heading?”

“Is it really your concern?” Derek snapped. Isaac nudged him.

“We’re leaving for Gallia. Derek thinks his family might live there now,” Isaac cut in.

“What a coincidence,” Stiles’s smirk widened and he turned to his friend. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Then they both turned to Derek and Isaac.

“We’re going to Gallia too,” Scott informed them. He didn’t seem as arrogant as Stilinski but Derek didn’t trust him either.

“Can you just tell us the price?” Derek lost all his patience.

“For you, it would be be five thousand,” Stiles said. “But what if I told you, you can have the passport and a ticket to Gallia for free _and_ you can even make some money?”

“What are you talking about?” Derek asked. Isaac looked curious and wary at the same time.

“Princess of Saskia, now Her Highness Princess Laura Argent, who’s living in Gallia, is searching for her lost brother. It’s believed he died during the Revolution but his body was never found. She hopes he survived. She announced that if someone found him or information regarding his whereabouts, she’d reward them,”  
Scott explained. Stilinski was nodding along. They were in sync as an old married couple.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Isaac replied for both of them.

“We want you to be prince Theodoric,” Stiles turned to Derek, his face completely serious now.

“The Prince? Derek as the prince?” Isaac laughed loudly. “You clearly don’t know this guy. He has no manners! He never says hello! Or please, or thank you! He’s rude to everyone. He eats from a pan. He moves like an ape and growls at everything.”

“Isaac,” Derek hissed.

“The reward is a million pounds,” Stiles said. 

“Oh,” Isaac choked on his spit. Even Derek felt lightheaded. He wasn’t after money but boy, it could make his life easier.

“Derek could totally pull it off!” Everyone gave Isaac dubious look. “I mean, yeah, he has no manners but he can learn them, right? And he’s very clean person! He’s smart, he has a great memory. If we gave him fancy clothes and made him shave, he could be handsome.”

“Shut up, Isaac,” Derek snapped. There was no way in hell he was doing something like that. “This is an insane plan.”

“We could teach you how to behave. We could make it work,” Scott insisted.

“If the Princess buys it, not only will you get the money, you could be living like a royal. You’ll have all luxury in the world,” Stiles added with another smirk.

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Derek spat out. This was simply not going to happen. It was the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard.

“Well, I don’t care what you do after it happens. We just want the money,” Stiles shrugged. Scott gave him exasperated look and took over:

“Look, we can make it work. We say you have amnesia or something so it won’t be weird you don’t know all the things the real prince would know. No one will be able to prove you guilty if it blows up. But there’s not even a way how to prove it’s all a farce. It can’t turn against us like that. We say we believe it’s you…”

“The princess will believe us because she wants desperately her brother back. She’ll get him, she’ll be happy. We get the money, we’ll be happy. You’ll be in Gallia and rich. Everyone will be happy,” Stiles finished, making Scott facepalm.

“I’m going to Gallia to find my family, not for some monkey business,” Derek gritted through his teeth. Isaac put his hand on his elbow.

“Do you know where to start?” Stiles challenged him, arching his eyebrows. Derek clenched his fists. “I thought so.”

“Can’t you just make me a passport? I’ll pay you. I’ll give you more if you want,” Derek suggested. It was long day and his bones ached. His mind was fuzzy with all the new information and thinking actually hurt. Derek wanted to finish the conversation as quickly as possible and then go home and fall on his bed.

“Well, if you think you can get safely to Gallia on your own,” Stiles shrugged.

“What you mean?” Derek frowned and his fists uncurled.

“If you really want to emigrate, not get caught and start a new life in Gallia, you will need a guide. Someone who knew how to get away from getting caught by an inspection, someone who’ll get you the visa, someone who knows Gallia’s law. Someone who’ll make sure you won’t be interrogated as potential Saxon spy,” Stiles explained in quick, arrogant voice. Derek shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t even know half of these things. But then there was a very little information about how moving to another country worked. The Government didn’t encourage the emigration. Derek rubbed his face with his hand in order to hide his blush. Isaac shifted on his feet and glanced at him quickly, obviously sharing his ignorance and embarrassment.  
_We were so fucking naïve,_ Derek thought. His blood started to boil again and he clenched his fists tightly. 

“You.”

“Me,” Stiles grinned widely. “Us,” he corrected with a jerk of his head towards Scott who was nodding in agreement. “I can make you your passport and leave you to your destiny. Or you could take our offer and be certain of three things: you’ll get to Gallia, you’ll be free and you’ll have enough money to spend it on your search,” Stiles informed him in a calm, nonchalant voice.

Derek wanted to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. 

“Give us a moment, gentlemen,” Isaac said, throwing a quick, polite smile to Stiles and Scott and dragged Derek out of their hearing range.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Isaac,” Derek hissed angrily. “I’m not doing it.”

“Just think it over! The money!” Isaac waved his hands around. His eyes were wide and round and Derek almost flinched when Isaac had nearly hit him with his hand. “We could live off it for… for years! Hell, till we die, maybe.”

“And how do you think I’ll be living? Happily ever after with _the royal family_? And what about you?” Derek pointed out.

“I don’t know,” Isaac admitted, his shoulders slumping down.

“I can’t do it. Even if I wanted to… I can’t pretend to be the prince,” Derek said more softly.

“Okay,” Isaac nodded and took in a deep breath.

“The money would be nice,” Derek admitted, “But we can live without it.”

“Fine, let’s forget it,” Isaac agreed sourly. He crossed his arms over over his chest. “But we still need help from these guys. And not only your passport.” 

“What do you mean?” Derek glanced at them. They were standing close, talking quietly and looking at Isaac and him.

“Let’s tell them we agree. You’ll get the passport and ticket for free. As soon as they’ll get us the visas to stay in Gallia, we’ll ditch them and we’ll start a new life. Sound good?”

Derek took few seconds to think it over. It sounded reasonable. He didn’t like the idea of putting their trust and lives into Stiles’s hands but Isaac was right. They were going to be more willing to help them if they thought they are going along their plan. Derek didn’t like the idea of taking advantage of them, but Stilinski was an arrogant prick and Derek was just a poor man. He was going to do anything to get to Gallia.

“Alright,” Derek nodded.

“We’ll be fine,” Isaac promised with a soft smile and patted Derek on the shoulder. They went back towards Stiles and Scott. 

“We agree with plan,” Isaac informed them. The identical smirk spread on their faces. 

“Great,” Stiles nodded and rubbed his hands together. “We’ll work out details once we’ll be in Gallia so no need to worry about that now. About the journey itself – “

“Just to be clear,” Derek interrupted him and Stiles frowned immediately, “Isaac is coming with me.”

Stiles and Scott looked at each other to have another nonverbal conversation.

“I have the valid passport so…” Isaac added quickly.

“And you’ll get him a ticket and a visa,” Derek continued in hard, uncompromising voice. He crossed his arms over his chest and jutted his chin towards Stiles.

“The visa is no problem,” Stiles said slowly, his eyes narrowing, “but the ticket is quite…”

“We’ll arrange it,” Scott promised, smiling broadly. Stiles sighed unhappily but didn’t argue anymore. He probably wasn’t as much in the charge of things as Derek presumed. Interesting. 

“Great, that’s great,” Isaac stuttered, obviously surprised about the swift course of the conversation. Derek squeezed his shoulder shortly. As if he was ever forgetting about his best friend. 

“Ok, so about the journey. We’ll be leaving in three weeks. The boat is – “ Derek wanted to listen but the exhaustion and a whirlwind of news came over him and he found it hard to focus on Stilinski’s voice. But Isaac was listening. He’ll tell him everything later. They were going to leave and it was going to be in less than month. It was all Derek wanted to know, everything he needed to know. However he wasn’t happy yet. He’ll breathe freely once he is standing on Gallia’s grounds.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm morganae on tumblr. Come and say hello, I love to ramble, especially about Sterek.


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